Focused advertising across multiple communication channels

ABSTRACT

This document describes, among other things, systems and methods for generating advertising campaigns or listings utilizing catalog information. A method comprises receiving, by an online publication system, a product catalog; accessing, by the online publication system, a merchant profile; and using the product catalog and the merchant profile to develop advertising data, wherein the advertising data includes at least one of an advertising campaign, a marketplace listing, or a store listing.

PRIORITY

This patent application is a continuation application that claims thebenefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/474,119, filed Aug. 30, 2014, and entitled “FOCUSED ADVERTISINGACROSS MULTIPLE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS”; which is a continuationapplication that claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/524,061, filed Sep. 20, 2006, and entitled,“LISTING GENERATION UTILIZING CATALOG INFORMATION”; both of which areincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate generally to the field of automated publication, andmore specifically to methods and systems that utilize catalogueinformation to automatically generate listings (e.g., advertisementlistings, auction listings, fixed-price listings, and store listings).

BACKGROUND

Advertising is a cornerstone of practically any business. Advertisingcampaigns can be expensive endeavors and as such, merchants andbusinesses must carefully evaluate various factors of an advertisingcampaign to extract the most value. In some cases, a bad advertisingcampaign can be more costly than if the business had not advertised atall. With the advent of the Internet, new ways to advertise, differentmarket models, and new pricing models add to the already difficult taskof designing and implementing an effective and efficient advertisingcampaign.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a online publicationsystem in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a dataflow diagram illustrating portions of the onlinepublication system in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an online storefront in accordance with anexample embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating and managingan advertising campaign in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining anadvertising and marketing plan in accordance with an example embodiment;and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a machine in the example form ofa computer system, within which a set or sequence of instructions forcausing the machine to perform any one of the methodologies discussedherein may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems to manage advertising campaigns, listings, andstorefronts are described. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of embodiments of the inventive subject matter.It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be practiced without these specificdetails.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an online publicationsystem 100 (e.g., an advertising system) in accordance with an exampleembodiment. While example embodiments of the inventive subject matterare described within the context of the online publication system 100,embodiments of the inventive subject matter may find application in manydifferent types of computer-based or network-based facilities orsystems. Accordingly, the example embodiment of an online publicationsystem 100 is not intended to limit the scope of the inventive subjectmatter solely to such systems.

In an embodiment, the online publication system 100 includes a webserver 102, which can communicate over a network 104 to a clientcomputer 106. The web server 102 additionally can communicate using oneor more direct or networked connections with other servers, such as anapplication server 108, an email server 110, and a database managementserver 112. In addition, a sales history database 114, an advertisinghistory database 116, and a client database 118 are communicativelycoupled to the network 104.

In an embodiment, the online publication system 100 is accessed by aclient program, for example a browser (e.g., Internet Explorerdistributed by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash.) that executes on theclient computer 106 and accesses the online publication system 100 viathe network 104. In various embodiments, the network 104 may include theInternet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), awireless network (e.g., a cellular network), the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN) network, or the like.

In some embodiments, the sales history database 114, the advertisinghistory database 116, and the client database 118 are located on thesame database server (not shown). In an embodiment, any one of thedatabases 114, 116, 118 may be configured as distributed databases. Inan alternative embodiment, the databases 114, 116, 118 may beimplemented as collections of objects in an object-oriented database. Inaddition, some of the information contained in one database may alsoexist in another database, for example by using shared tables,automation, or the like. The databases 114, 116, 118 can, in someembodiments, be implemented as relational databases, and can include anumber of tables having entries, or records, that are linked by indicesand keys relating tables or records within one database or acrossseveral databases. In some embodiments, one or more of the databases114, 116, 118 may be implemented as a collection of data in any format.In an embodiment, one or more of the databases 114, 116, 118 can behosted by a licensor and one or more licensees.

In an embodiment, the sales history database 114 contains information inone or more tables related to the sale of a client's products orservices. For example, the sales history database 114 may be structuredto include some or all of the following information: a productidentifier, a time and date of sale, a time and date of an initialoffering of sale, a purchasing party, a sale price, a wholesale price, aquantity, a channel, a source advertisement, a promotion code, or aprofit margin. Additional information may be captured as necessary. Thechannel may indicate how the product or service was purchased, how theproduct or service was obtained (e.g., delivery method), or both.

In an embodiment, the advertising history database 116 containsinformation in one or more tables related to the number, types, andresults of advertising with respect to a product, service, or client.For example, the advertising history database 116 may be structured toinclude some or all of the following information: an ad type, an adcost, a maximum bid, a number of impressions, a number of clickthroughs,a number of purchases, a starting date, a product identifier, a date ofpurchases, clickthroughs, or impressions, or a return on advertisinginvestment (e.g., the cost of the ad versus the amount of profit fromthe campaign). Depending on the level of statistical detail sought, inalternative embodiments, more information is recorded and used in theadvertising history database 116.

In some embodiments, the client database 118 contains information abouta user (e.g., client) of the online publication system 100. Particularclient information may be retained in the client database 118, includingbut not limited to, a client name, a client type, contact information,an advertising budget, a primary market, a secondary market, and billinginformation. In some embodiments, additional information may be providedby the client to further help direct and focus the marketing campaign.For example, the client may provide a desired profit amount, margin, orreturn on ad investment, which the online publication system 100 can useto adjust the design and structure of the advertisement or marketingcampaign to optimize a client's preferred metric (e.g., profit margin orreturn on ad investment). As another example, the client may wish tofocus on brand awareness and provide inputs of factors such as estimatedaudience reach, estimated impressions delivered, measured brand recall(e.g., from surveys, focus groups, etc.), sales lift in a particularregion or country, or the like. In addition, the client database 118 mayalso contain a subset of the client's inventory and related information,which may act as a working or active copy of a product database, in someembodiments. For example, details for products that are being advertisedare maintained in the client database, where the number of productsadvertised is a subset of all of the client's products.

The client database 118 may be populated automatically or manually. Forexample, in an embodiment, to automatically populate the client database118, a client user may connect to the online publication system 100 andupload a product database using an application served from theapplication server 108. In some examples, a Java, ISAPI or other CGIapplication is provided by the online publication system as aninterface. The product database may be formatted using a standardizedinterface language or in a standard format file. For example, theproduct database can be formatted using eXtensible Markup Language (XML)or with a common file format, such as comma-separated values (csv) or atab delimited format. In some examples, the product database may beimported using a database-to-database transfer, such as by usingMicrosoft SQL Server's Data Transformation Services (DTS) or a backupand restore process. In other embodiments, a user client can create,modify, and manage inventory data manually, for example, by using a userinterface provided by the web server 102. In various embodiments, theproduct database contains data (e.g., UPC, title, manufacturer,description, price, model number, etc.), which can then be integratedinto the client database 118.

In an embodiment, a user at a client machine 106 can upload one or moreproduct databases, provide account information, and initiate a processon the online publication system 100 that generates an advertisingcampaign, listings, or a storefront. In an embodiment, the onlinepublication system 100 may interface with an external advertising server120 to obtain and provision advertising related to the advertisingcampaign. In an embodiment, the online publication system 100 mayinterface with an external listing server 122 to place listings, whichmay serve to advertise a product or service and also enable customers topurchase such products or services. In various embodiments, the externallisting server 122 is part of a larger system, such as an online auctionsystem or an online store.

FIG. 2 is a dataflow diagram illustrating portions of the onlinepublication system in accordance with an example embodiment. In thisexample, a product catalog 200 is provided in XML format. An XML parser202 receives the product catalog 200 and communicates the parsed data tothe online publication system 204. The online publication system 204 mayinclude one or more databases similar to those described above, seeFIG. 1. In addition to the product catalog 200, the online publicationsystem 204 also receives a merchant profile 206. The merchant profile206 may include information such as a merchant's advertising budget,billing information, security information (to securely access the onlinepublication system 204), and other merchant preferences. Using thisinformation, the online publication system 204 determines an advertisingand marketing plan.

In an embodiment, the online publication system 204 obtains one or moremarketplace listings 208 on the merchant's behalf. A marketplace listingmay include information such as a title, price, byline, quantity,reserve price, shipping information, and description. In an embodiment,marketplace listings 208 are placed on an online auction system 210,such as eBay's Marketplace. The online auction system 210 may beassociated with the online publication system 204, for example, byhaving a common provider (e.g., eBay). Depending on factors, such as themerchant's budget, quantity available, preferred margin, timelineconstraints, or other preferences, a marketplace listing 208 may becreated as a fixed price sale, a standard auction, or a Dutch auction.

In an embodiment, the online publication system 204 develops one or morestore listings 212. A store listing 212 may comprise a product listingin an online store, in an embodiment. Alternatively, the store listing212 can comprise some or all of a storefront (e.g., an online store'shomepage). FIG. 3 is an illustration of an online storefront 300 inaccordance with an example embodiment. The online storefront 300 iscomposed of a title area 302, a navigation sidebar 304, an advertisingsidebar 306, a body 308, and a footer 310. In this example, theadvertising sidebar 306 contains information about “Top Sellers” and maybe generated by the online publication system 204 using sales data 226or advertising data 228 (discussed in more detail below). Also in thisexample, the body contains “Featured Items,” which may be chosen basedon factors such as available inventory, seasonality, a store user'spreferences, sales data 226 (to highlight best sellers), advertisingdata 228 (to highlight more heavily advertised products or services), orthe like. For example, a merchant using a storefront may use FeaturedItems to drive users to particular products or to entice a user based onprevious browsing or purchase history. After determining and developingthe store listings 212, the online publication system 204 forwards theinformation to an online store 214. The online store 214 may beassociated with the online publication system 204, for example, byhaving a common provider (e.g., eBay).

In an embodiment, the online publication system 204 develops one or moreadvertising campaigns 216. In an embodiment, there are two aspects to anadvertising campaign 216: its center of focus and the communicationchannels used. In one embodiment, an advertising campaign 216 may have acenter of focus on a merchant or alternatively, on a particular productor service. In such an embodiment, if the advertising campaign's centerof focus is the merchant or a merchant's brand, then advertisements(e.g., print ads, search results ads, emails) may emphasize themerchant's identity, for example by prominently displaying a logo,instead of the particular products the merchant produces. On the otherhand, if the advertising campaign's center of focus is a product (orservice), then in another embodiment, certain adjustments to theadvertising campaign 216 may be made to optimize exposure and sales ofthe product (or service), such as by optimizing for gross profit or“net” profit (e.g., gross profit less returns and chargebacks). Inanother embodiment, a hybrid advertising campaign emphasizes amerchant's identity in some communication channels while emphasizing amerchant's products in other communication channels. Anotherpossibility, in some embodiments, is optimizing an advertising campaignfor the profit of the listing agent (e.g., an online store). Forexample, when revenue for the listing agent is based on a cost peraction (CPA), such as when a client of the listing agent agrees to pay aCPA of 10% of the sale price of any item sold due to an advertisementplaced by the agent, then the listing agent may choose to place adsbased on the expected revenue from placing a particular ad using aparticular channel or mode.

Another aspect of an advertising campaign 216 is the communicationchannels used, in an embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2,four communication channels are provided, including a print mediachannel 218, an online media channel 220, an electronic text mediachannel 222, and a broadcast media channel 224. Print media channel 218may include such modes as newspaper ads, magazine ads, flyers, inserts,postcards, billboards, and the like. Online media channel 220 mayinclude such modes as banner ads, static ads, popup ads, multimedia ads,search results ads, text-based advertisements, clickthrough page ads,and the like. Electronic text media channel 222 may include such modesas email newsletters, direct email, text messaging, instant messaging,Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, other mobile messages and thelike. Broadcast media channel 224 may include such modes as television,radio, streaming broadcasts, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds,digital video recorder (DVR) advertising, and the like. Digital videorecorder advertising may include banner or text ads displayed to aviewer while the view is searching for a television program or browsingother interactive interfaces, such as during playback of a recordedprogram, or during searching or scanning a recorded program. DVRadvertising may also include promotional programming recorded on theviewer's DVR unit based on the viewer's profile, such as by previouslyviewed or recorded programs, viewing preferences, or other informationon file about the viewer (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession,family composition, etc.).

In an embodiment, various methods are used to track the effectiveness ofan advertising campaign 216. For example, an offer code or promotionalcode may be indicated on the advertisement. A consumer, after receivingthe advertisement can use the offer code, for example, to receive freeshipping, a reduced price, or a limited edition. The use of the offercode can be traced to the source advertisement for tracking purposes. Asanother example, an offer code is affixed to a hypertext link, forexample within an email advertisement or an online advertisement, suchas a banner ad. When a person activates the hypertext link, the onlinepublication system 204 can extract the offer code from the hypertextlink and record it. As another example, persistent data (e.g., a cookie)can be used to track a shopper's activities. The persistent data mayinclude offer codes, source codes, user identification, or otherstatistical information. The use of unique offer codes or other sourcecodes based on advertising channels or particular advertisements canoffer a wide range of logging and statistical analysis. Source codes,offer codes, promotional codes, and other types of codes or identifierscan be used to track individual advertisements, advertising campaigns216, merchants, stores, products, or other aspects of online marketing.

In an embodiment, sales data 226 is communicated to the onlinepublication system 204. The sales data 226 may indicate a productidentifier, a sale price, an offer code, a quantity, a time and date ofsale, and other information used to track sales related to particularadvertisements (offers). In various embodiments, the sales data 226 iscommunicated either real-time (at the time of the sale) or periodically(such as during a daily batch process).

In an embodiment, advertising data 228 is communicated to the onlinepublication system 204. The advertising data 228, in an embodiment,includes some of data found in the sales data 226, for example, an offercode. Other information that may be found in advertising data 228,depending on the communication channel used, include a number of timesan advertisement was shown (impressions), a number of clickthroughs, anumber of resultant purchases, a number of emails mailed, a number oflines or size of print ad, a circulation of a magazine or newspaper, acost per ad, a cost per impression, a cost per click, a cost pertransfer or broadcast, a number or amount of purchases, a number oramount of returns on purchases, a cost per sale (e.g., advertising ormanufacturing cost divided by gross or net revenue), a cost per net sale(e.g., gross sales less returns), a cost per profit (e.g., gross margin,direct margin, net margin), and the like.

In an embodiment, the online publication system 204 collects the salesdata 226 and the advertising data 228 and uses the data 226, 228 incombination with the merchant's profile 206 to determine adjustments toan existing advertising and marketing plan. For example, on a monthlybasis, the online publication system 204 may review sales data 226 andadvertising data 228 for the previous month, determine whether saleswere sufficient to justify the cost of advertising using a particularchannel, and increase or decrease an advertising effort based on theresults of the determination. In an embodiment, sales data oradvertising data may be exported to one or more other systems, such asan inventory management system, an order management system, a customersupport system, a shipping system, or a fulfillment system, to provide acomprehensive sales and marketing system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 for generating andmanaging an advertising campaign in accordance with an exampleembodiment. The method 400 begins at block 402 by receiving a productcatalog. The product catalog may include one or more products and datato distinctly identify the products. In various embodiments, the productcatalog is formatted using XML, csv, or other standard file formats toenable the online publication system 204 to efficiently receive andstore the product catalog. In another embodiment, the product catalog istransferred using a database-to-database transfer, such as replicationor other export-import mechanisms.

At 404, the method 400 receives a merchant profile. In some embodiments,a merchant profile may already be available in the online publicationsystem 204 and at block 404, the method 400 communicates the existinginformation to a merchant for verification, for example using averification form (e.g., an HTML page). The merchant can review theinformation and if the merchant's situation has changed, for examplethey have a larger or smaller advertising budget, then the method 400can receive and store such information for later use. If the merchant'sprofile is not already in the system 204, then a merchant profilecreation form, e.g., another HTML page, may be presented to the merchanton his client computer 106 (see FIG. 1), where the HTML page is servedfrom a web server 102.

At 406, the method 400 develops an advertising and marketing plan. Invarious embodiments, the development of the advertising and marketingplan may range from the very simple to the very complex. For example, ina simple decision making system, only one channel and mode ofadvertising is used throughout a merchant's product catalog. Such a planwould be simple with respect to the ease of implementation and the easeof analysis after implementation. As an inverse example, a complexdecision making system may make multiple calculations usingprobabilistic models to determine a strategy and plan that may implementdifferent advertising modes or channels for different products in aproduct catalog in an effort to optimize each advertising campaign for aparticular item, product, or product line. A complex advertising andmarketing plan may also implement product listings, for example on anonline auction system, and further implement corresponding advertising,for example on an online search engine system. Additionally, a complexadvertising and marketing plan may include rules that dynamicallypresent an advertisement to a viewer or listener based on the identityor class of the viewer or listener. Such target marketing may be used inone advertising mode or channel or across several modes or channels. Oneexample of developing an advertising and marketing plan is describedbelow.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method 406 for determining anadvertising and marketing plan in accordance with an example embodiment.At 406A, the product catalog is examined to determine its features orparameters necessary to develop an advertising and marketing plan. Forexample, the types of products, volume of products, price range ofproducts, and other characteristics may be used in determining the plan.

At 406B, the merchant's profile is examined to determine additionalparameters to be used in developing the plan. These additionalparameters may include the merchant's advertising budget, shippingability, preferences, and external account information. The merchant mayalso provide sales-oriented parameters such as a desired profit amount,margin, or return on ad investment. The merchant may also providebrand-oriented parameters, such as a minimum estimated audience, atarget region or country, a minimum estimated delivered impressions, orthe like.

External account information may include the merchant's username andpassword for various advertising or commerce systems. For example, ifthe merchant was a seller on an online auction system, such as eBay, themerchant's profile may contain the merchant's username and password foreBay. In another example, the merchant may indicate that they have anaccount, such as on eBay, but may not provide the security information.In some embodiments, it is advantageous if the merchant provides theirsecurity information for external systems so that the online publicationsystem 204 may then automatically implement certain advertising andmarketing strategies without direct user intervention. In an example,the merchant's profile may contain access mechanisms, such as logintokens or cookies, to secure access to external systems without storinga username or password.

In some embodiments, a merchant may also provide other elections, whichmay be reflected in the merchant's preference settings in the merchantprofile. For example, preferences may reflect a merchant's choice tooptimize product unit price or advertising placement using a specificfactor, such as a particular advertising channel (e.g., online, print),a sales channel (e.g., online, brick and mortar, drop-ship), salesvolume, time period (e.g., a merchant may wish to sell merchandisebefore a particular season ends or before some other event that couldimpact sale price or product desirability), or shipping costs. Asanother example, preferences may reflect the merchant's choice tooptimize exposure for increasing brand awareness, such as by using aparticular advertising channel, decreasing prices to increase marketcoverage, or using promotional events.

At 406C, the method 406 determines if the merchant has an online storeand whether the merchant has indicated a preference to generate one ormore listings for the store. Listings may include permanent listings ormore transient listings. Permanent listings may represent a merchant'ssteady or regular inventory, whereas a transient listing may represent aproduct in limited quantity or only available for a limited time.Permanent listings may include a number of available inventoryremaining, a date of expected new inventory, or the like. To determinewhether to generate listings, in an embodiment, the method 406 mayexamine the merchant's profile to determine the existence of an onlinestore. In some embodiments, a merchant's preference to generate storelistings is contained in a corresponding merchant profile.

At 406D, if the merchant has an online store and has indicated apreference to generate listings for the store, then the operation ofgenerating listings for an online store is added to an advertising andmarketing plan.

At 406E, the method 406 determines if the merchant has an online auctionaccount and whether the merchant has indicated a preference to generateone or more marketplace listings. In an embodiment, the method 406 candetermine whether the merchant has an online auction account byexamining the merchant's profile. The merchant's preference to generatemarketing listings may be contained in the merchant's profile, in someembodiments.

At 406F, if the method has determined at 406E to generate marketplacelistings, then the operation of generating marketplace listings is addedto the advertising and marketing plan.

At 406G, the method 406 uses one or more factors to determine one ormore advertising channel and mode combinations to add to the advertisingand marketing plan. In an embodiment, advertising channels may includeprint media, online media, electronic text media, and broadcast media.In a further embodiment, advertising modes may include newspaper ads,magazine ads, flyers, inserts, postcards, and billboards or otheroutdoor advertising for the print media channel; banner ads, static ads,popup ads, multimedia ads, search results ads, text-based ads, andclickthrough page ads for the online media channel; email newsletters,direct email, text messaging, and instant messaging for the electronictext media channel; and television, radio, streaming broadcasts, ReallySimple Syndication (RSS) feeds, and digital video recorder (DVR)advertising for the broadcast media channel. In various embodiments,factors may include things such as product types, characteristics of themerchant profile (e.g., advertising budget), and whether an online storelisting or a marketplace listing has been added to the advertising andmarketing plan. For example, a small advertising budget may precludeadvertising using certain broadcast media (e.g., television).Furthermore, in some embodiments, choosing one advertising channel andmode combination may affect the availability or degree of use of othercombinations. At 406H, the advertising channel and mode combinations areadded to the advertising and marketing plan.

At 406I, the advertising and marketing plan is analyzed and revised. Invarious embodiments, the advertising and marketing plan is adjustedwithin the constraints of the merchant profile. For example, theadvertising budget may restrict the number of marketplace listings infavor of certain advertising modes or channels. In another example,particular products may receive more or less advertising or listingsbased on factors such as margin, number of units, and percentage of themerchant's business. In an embodiment, the advertising and marketingplan is stored for future reference, such as a baseline for futureadjustments.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, at 408, the advertising and marketingcampaign is implemented. Implementation may depend on which strategieswere elected and included in the advertising and marketing plan in block406. For example, if it was determined that a marketplace listing of oneor more products should be generated, the method 400 can communicatenecessary data to another system, such as an online auction system. Inan embodiment, the merchant is provided with the advertising andmarketing plan before some or all of the implementation is commenced, sothe merchant can consent or modify portions of or all of plan beforeimplementation.

At 410, the method 400 reviews the advertising and marketing campaign.In an embodiment, the review is performed on a periodic basis, forexample monthly. The review may also be performed when an event isdetected, in some embodiments, such as when a sale is made or animpression of an advertisement is served. In another embodiment, thereview is performed when a user, for example the merchant, requests areview. For example, reviews may be periodic, but a merchant may desireto initiate an unscheduled review to accommodate for changingconditions. In a further embodiment, the timing of the review has adefault period (e.g., monthly), but can be adjusted by the merchant orother user based on their preference. In an embodiment, the reviewcomprises analyzing the current period's performance against one or morehistorical performances.

At 412, depending on the results of the review at block 410, one or moreadjustments to the marketing and advertising plan may be determined. Inan embodiment, the adjustments are implemented automatically by theonline publication system 204. In another embodiment, the onlinepublication system 204 may communicate the suggested adjustments to themerchant, for example by using email via the email server 110. In otherembodiments, some adjustments may be made automatically with the impliedconsent of the merchant while other adjustments may require expressconsent, such as by a responsive action by the merchant.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a machine in the example form ofa computer system 600, within which a set or sequence of instructionsfor causing the machine to perform any one of the methodologiesdiscussed herein may be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine may comprise a computer, a network router, a network switch, anetwork bridge, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone,a web appliance, set-top box (STB) or any machine capable of executing asequence of instructions that specify actions to be taken by thatmachine.

The computer system 600 includes a processor 602, a main memory 604 anda static memory 606, which communicate with each other via a bus 608.The computer system 600 may further include a video display unit 610(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). Thecomputer system 600 also includes an alphanumeric input device 612(e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), a diskdrive unit 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker) and anetwork interface device 620 to interface the computer system to anetwork 622.

The disk drive unit 616 includes a machine-readable medium 624 on whichis stored a set of instructions or software 626 embodying any one, orall, of the methodologies described herein. The software 626 is alsoshown to reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 604 and/or within the processor 602. The software 626 may furtherbe transmitted or received via the network interface device 620. For thepurposes of this specification, the term “machine-readable medium” shallbe taken to include any medium which is capable of storing or encoding asequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause themachine to perform any one of the methodologies of the inventive subjectmatter. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical andmagnetic disks, and carrier wave signals. Further, while the software isshown in FIG. 6 to reside within a single device, it will be appreciatedthat the software could be distributed across multiple machines orstorage media, which may include the machine-readable medium.

The foregoing description of specific embodiments reveals the generalnature of the inventive subject matter sufficiently that others can, byapplying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt it for variousapplications without departing from the generic concept. Therefore, suchadaptations and modifications are within the meaning and range ofequivalents of the disclosed embodiments. The phraseology or terminologyemployed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.Accordingly, the inventive subject matter embraces all suchalternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations as fall withinthe spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.

Method embodiments described herein may be computer-implemented. Someembodiments may include computer-readable media encoded with a computerprogram (e.g., software), which includes instructions operable to causean electronic device to perform methods of various embodiments. Asoftware implementation (or method) may include microcode, assemblylanguage code, or a higher-level language code, which further mayinclude computer readable instructions for performing various methods.The code may form portions of computer program products. Further, thecode may be tangibly stored on one or more volatile or non-volatilecomputer-readable media during execution or at other times. Thesecomputer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, hard disks,removable magnetic disks, removable optical disks (e.g., compact disksand digital video disks), magnetic cassettes, memory cards or sticks,random access memories (RAMS), read only memories (ROMs), and the like.

In the foregoing description of various embodiments, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof and show, by wayof illustration, specific embodiments in which the inventive subjectmatter may be practiced. Various embodiments are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the inventivesubject matter, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may beutilized, and that process or mechanical changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the scope of the inventive subject matter.

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to,individually and/or collectively, herein by the term “inventive subjectmatter” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarilylimit the scope of this application to any single inventive subjectmatter or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact, disclosed. Itwill be recognized that the methods of various embodiments can becombined in practice, either concurrently or in succession. Variouspermutations and combinations may be readily apparent to those skilledin the art.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method implemented by an online commerce system, the method comprising: populating a database with product information associated with a plurality of products sold by a merchant; populating the database with merchant information that includes advertising factors of the merchant; accessing the product information from the database; accessing the merchant information from the database; generating digital advertisements for a product of the plurality of products based on the product information and the merchant information; accessing channel information associated with a plurality of communication channels for publishing advertisements; determining that a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels satisfies one or more profit factors of the advertising factors, the determining that the communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors being based on the product information, the merchant information, and the channel information; and publishing, in response to determining that the communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors, the digital advertisements via the communication channel.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more profit factors are selected from a group of profit factors consisting of: a profit amount, a profit margin, gross profit, net profit, and a return on ad investment.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining that the communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors includes: determining a profit optimization that satisfies the one or more profit factors; and determining that the communication channel satisfies the profit optimization.
 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating the digital advertisements for the product in response to determining that the product satisfies one or more of the advertising factors of the merchant based on the merchant information and the product information.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the advertising factors are selected from a group of advertising factors consisting of: advertising budget, advertising preferences, and advertising constraints.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the channel information is selected from a group of channel factors consisting of: communication channel type, communication channel cost, and communication channel reach.
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is a first communication channel and the method further comprises: acquiring data from a group of data consisting of: sales data of the product that is based on sales derived from the digital advertisements; and advertisement data associated with the digital advertisements; determining that the first communication channel no longer satisfies the one or more profit factors based on the acquired data; and removing the digital advertisements from the first communication channel in response to determining that the first communication channel no longer satisfies the one or more profit factors.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining that a second communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors based on the acquired data; and publishing, in response to determining that the second communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors, the digital advertisements via the second communication channel.
 10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: acquiring data from a group of data consisting of: sales data of the product that is based on sales derived from the digital advertisements; and advertisement data associated with the digital advertisements; and modifying the digital advertisements based on the acquired data.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein the advertising factors further include a merchant-centric preference of the merchant for advertisements focusing on the merchant's identity and the method further comprises generating the digital advertisements based on the merchant-centric preference.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein the advertising factors further include a product-centric preference of the merchant for advertisements focusing on the product and the method further comprises generating the digital advertisements based on the product-centric preference.
 13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media configured to store instructions that, in response to being executed by one or more processors, cause a system to perform operations, the operations comprising: populating a database with product information associated with a plurality of products sold by a merchant; populating the database with merchant information that includes advertising factors of the merchant; accessing the product information from the database; accessing the merchant information from the database; determining that a product of the plurality of products satisfies one or more of the advertising factors of the merchant based on the merchant information and the product information; generating digital advertisements for the product in response to determining that the product satisfies one or more of the advertising factors; accessing channel information associated with a plurality of communication channels for publishing advertisements; determining a profit optimization that satisfies a plurality of profit factors of the advertising factors, the profit optimization being determined based on the product information, the merchant information, and the channel information, the plurality of profit factors being selected from a group of profit factors consisting of: a profit amount, a profit margin, gross profit, net profit, and a return on ad investment; determining that a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels satisfies the profit optimization; and publishing, in response to determining that the communication channel satisfies the profit optimization, the digital advertisements via the communication channel.
 14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise.
 15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the advertising factors are selected from a group of advertising factors consisting of: advertising budget, advertising preferences, and advertising constraints.
 16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the channel information is selected from a group of channel factors consisting of: communication channel type, communication channel cost, and communication channel reach.
 17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is a first communication channel and the operations further comprise: acquiring data from a group of data consisting of: sales data of the product that is based on sales derived from the digital advertisements; and advertisement data associated with the digital advertisements; determining that the first communication channel no longer satisfies the one or more profit factors based on the acquired data; and removing the digital advertisements from the first communication channel in response to determining that the first communication channel no longer satisfies the one or more profit factors.
 18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: determining that a second communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors based on the acquired data; and publishing, in response to determining that the second communication channel satisfies the one or more profit factors, the digital advertisements via the second communication channel.
 19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: acquiring data from a group of data consisting of: sales data of the product that is based on sales derived from the digital advertisements; and advertisement data associated with the digital advertisements; and modifying the digital advertisements based on the acquired data.
 20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein: the advertising factors further include merchant preferences selected from a group of merchant preferences consisting of: a merchant-centric preference of the merchant for advertisements focusing on the merchant's identity and a product-centric preference of the merchant for advertisements focusing on the product; and the method further comprises generating the digital advertisements based on the merchant preferences.
 21. An online commerce system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and configured to store instructions that, in response to being executed by the one or more processors, cause the online commerce system to perform operations, the operations comprising: accessing product information associated with a plurality of products sold by a merchant; accessing merchant information that includes advertising factors of the merchant; generating digital advertisements for a product of the plurality of products based on the product information and the merchant information; accessing channel information associated with a plurality of communication channels for publishing advertisements; determining that a communication channel of the plurality of communication channels satisfies one or more of the advertising factors, the determining that the communication channel satisfies the one or more advertising factors being based on the product information, the merchant information, and the channel information; and publishing, in response to determining that the communication channel satisfies the one or more advertising factors, the digital advertisements via the communication channel. 